Features


The federal Phase 1 standards required more efficient engines, use of low-rolling-resistance tires, reduced idling, and aerodynamic improvements. (This photo is a spirit of america / Shutterstock.com photograph.)

CARB Working with Feds on New Truck Standards

"We are excited to share the California experience and technical expertise gained from our early actions to reduce emissions and save fuel from the heaviest trucks via our California tractor-trailer greenhouse gas program over the last six years," said Air Resources Board Chairman Mary D. Nichols.

The Potomac Water Filtration Plant has been sued for dumping more than 30 million pounds of sediment and aluminum into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay over a four-year period.

Maryland Water Supplier Gets Sued for Violating Clean Water Act

The Potomac Water Filtration Plant has been sued for dumping more than 30 million pounds of sediment and aluminum into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay over a four-year period.

As people and corporations alike are becoming more environmentally conscious with each passing year, businesses around the globe are finding ways their stores can leave less of a carbon footprint.

Striving for Sustainability: Commercial Properties Go Green

As people and corporations alike are becoming more environmentally conscious with each passing year, businesses around the globe are finding ways their stores can leave less of a carbon footprint.

Several environmental groups oppose Detroit Edison

EPA Planning Update of Radiation Protection Standards

The agency's standards for nuclear power operations date to 1977 and are the earliest radiation rules it has developed.

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, has been the architect of many important environmental, health, and food safety laws.

Waxman Announces He'll Retire This Year

Ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he has played a leading role in enacting major environmental and health laws for decades.

The Pacific Coast Action Plan could be an effective blueprint for locally driven climate and energy policy. Will it be implemented in 2014?

Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy

The Pacific Coast Action Plan could be an effective blueprint for locally driven climate and energy policy. Will it be implemented in 2014?

Communities along the pipeline route launched Texas Pipeline Watch to arm landowners and citizens with cameras to document every spill, leak, and disturbance along the risky pipeline.

Texas Pipeline Watch to Closely Monitor TransCanada’s Tar Sands Pipeline

As the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline starts to flow this week, residents around the route will be using cameras from the Texas Pipeline Watch to monitor and document all activity of the pipeline.

The natural gas drilling boom in the United States has a significant environmental impact.

Natural Gas: Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?

The recent fracking boom may do more harm than good for the climate if the U.S. EPA doesn’t do a better job of regulating methane releases. Even if it does, will cheap natural gas displace cleaner energy options like wind and solar?



California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Jan. 17, 2014, proclaimed a state of emergency and directed state officials to take all necessary actions to prepare for the drought conditions.

Water Emergency Declared for California

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Jan. 17 proclaimed a state of emergency and directed state officials to take all necessary actions to prepare in the face of the driest year on record.

Trichloroethylene, a solvent and a volatile organic chemical, can contaminate groundwater and become an indoor air hazard.

A Perfect Storm Batters Risk Management Decisions for TCE

This new interim policy means that a chronic toxic effect could occur across a 24 hour period of time and any average 24-hour exposure measurement above the RfC is cause for prompt action. This is unprecedented and scientifically indefensible.

Google Invests $75 Million in Texas Wind Farms

Panhandle 2, a wind farm just outside of Amarillo, Texas, has received a $75 million investment from Google. This is Google’s 15th renewable energy investment, and their second in the Lone Star State.

Permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, forms during colder climates, when average annual temperatures remain below freezing.

Permafrost… It’s Chill.

Imagine being kept below freezing temperatures for thousands of years… to be trapped with no way to escape other than to thaw out over time. Permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, forms during colder climates, when average annual temperatures remain below freezing. The soils accumulate ice and plant material from plants living at the Earth’s surface.

Severe pollution affected the city of Beijing during January 2013, as shown in this photo. (Hung Chung Chih/Shutterstock.com photo)

China Regulates CO2 Emissions

Will China's public pledge to mitigate environmental issues and adopt meaningful greenhouse gas controls take hold, or will political obstacles and rapid growth get in the way?

Will a plan to ship coal—the leading source of CO2 pollution—from Montana to China be halted following environmental review by two federal agencies, amid early signs that China might be stepping away from coal as preferred energy source?

Will Montana Coal Go to China?

Will a plan to ship coal—the leading source of CO2 pollution—from Montana to China be halted following environmental review by two federal agencies, amid early signs that China might be stepping away from coal as preferred energy source?

Warm water in the Pacific often creates thunderstorms that become a “global chimney”, which can launch gases into the stratosphere.

Tropical Pacific May Play Huge Role in Global Warming

A group of scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will begin a project that explores the possibility of storm activity in the Pacific Ocean may contribute to global climate change.

Will the Brazilian courts uphold constitution protections for future generations as a basis to strike down new forest laws that allow destruction of the world’s climate – protecting forests?

Brazil Repeals Forest Code and Deforestation Accelerates

Will the Brazilian courts uphold constitution protections for future generations as a basis to strike down new forest laws that allow destruction of the world’s climate – protecting forests?

Smoke from residential wood heaters, which are used around the clock in some communities, can increase toxic air pollution, VOCs, carbon monoxide, and soot.

EPA to Cut Woodstoves' Emissions

The agency has proposed standards for new woodstoves, heaters, and fireplace inserts beginning in 2015.

The Supreme Court has defined the limited issue as "whether EPA permissibly determined that its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles triggered permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act for stationary sources that emit greenhouse gases."

Stationary Sources of Greenhouse Gases

Will the Supreme Court, which recently let stand the D.C. Circuit's decision that greenhouse gases present a danger to the environment through climate change, allow EPA to control greenhouse gases from stationary sources?

Coal interests fiercely oppose EPA

Regulation of Carbon Emissions for Existing Power Plants Under the Clean Air Act

Will EPA finally propose regulations that significantly reduce carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants?

Will federal flood insurance reforms fully embrace the new reality of climate change driving frequent and intense storms?

Severe Weather Events and the National Flood Insurance Program

Will federal flood insurance reforms fully embrace the new reality of climate change driving frequent and intense storms?